


Sleepover

by poetroe



Series: if I grind my teeth at night, would you hear it? [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Catadora, Childhood Friends, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Mario Kart, Sleepovers, Underage Smoking, adora is adorable, catra is a sad gay, catradora, pls forgive how bad i am at summaries the fic is fine i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 03:44:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17276459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetroe/pseuds/poetroe
Summary: "Catra figures she must have fallen asleep at some point, because she wakes up off the couch and pressed into Adora’s back. Grayskull’s gone, too. The space between Adora and the couch is so small it probably shouldn’t be as comfortable as it is, but then again sleeping with Adora will always be the most comfortable thing Catra has ever done."Catra hasn't seen Adora since she moved away and transferred to Bright Moon High School. And then she gets invited to a sleepover.





	Sleepover

**Author's Note:**

> *abba voice* happy new year~~ and what better way to start it off than by writing a HSAU for my new fav otp? I hope y'all are gonna have a great 2019 and also a great time reading this. I'm thinking of making this into a series of one-shots. Not beta'd so sorry if I missed something, also please leave a comment and tell me what you think, thanks!

When the call comes, it comes unexpected. It’s probably her own fault for never reading the screen before tapping to accept calls, or having no images saved to any of her contacts. As a result, Catra is entirely unprepared and freezes when an all too familiar voice comes crackling through her earbuds.

“Uh, Catra, hi! How have you been?” It’s her (former?) best friend, partner in crime, person she trusts most in the world.

“Hey, Adora,” Catra murmurs into the mic with a smirk. “I’ve been fine. Just peachy, really, especially considering that my best friend went and _betrayed_ my ass to transfer schools over the summer.“

“Well _excuse_ me for moving away to my new foster parents—” Adora’s voice sounds bitter and hardened and if Catra closes her eyes, she can see the frown that goes with it. “—who actually care about me, and if you can’t—”

“Woah, woah, okay, hold your horses, please,” Catra interrupts as she falls down backwards on her bed. “You know that I’m—” A sigh escapes her. Her voice is softer when she continues. “You know that I’m happy for you. Everything just sucks that much more without you here.” Silence crackles through the line for a moment before Adora answers.

“I’m sorry,” she says. Catra rolls her eyes.

“How many times have I told you to quit it with the apologies already? A thousand times? A bajillion thousand?”

“That’s not a word,” Adora chuckles into her ears. Catra swallows.

“A gazillion then. Whatever, my point stands,” she says. Adora chuckles again, but stays silent. It’s not that it’s awkward, but Catra honestly has better things to do than to listen to her best friend’s soft breathing through her earbuds, so she speaks up again after a while. “To what do I owe this honor, anyway?”

“What? Oh,” Adora answers, “I, uh, was planning a sleepover.” Catra’s ears perk up at that.

“Cool,” she grins. “Like old times?” Adora pauses.

“Not exactly,” she says and Catra’s grin withers. “I was thinking about inviting some of my new friends from Bright Moon.”

“Of course, _your new friends from Bright Moon_ just can’t miss it,” Catra sneers. “Sure. That’s fine. That’s great.”

“Shut up, Catra,” Adora grumbles through the phone. “If you’re going to be like that, I’m revoking your invitation.” Catra rolls her eyes again, but it’s fond. This whole conversation is somewhat reminiscent of their semi-daily arguments that Catra has had to miss these the last couple of months.

“Okay,” she says, conceding. She never really could deny Adora anything. “But I’m not responsible for my actions if they go all preppy on me, so.” Adora laughs and Catra closes her eyes again. With Adora’s voice so clear in her ears, she can almost pretend she’s laying on the bed with her.

“I’ll make sure they behave,” Adora tells her. “Oh, and you can ask Scorpia along too, if you want. I haven’t talked to her in forever.”

“Sure thing,” Catra answers. “Lord knows it’ll do you good to be around your Horde High buddies again.” Adora chuckles.

“If you say so, Cat,” she says, and Catra’s breath hitches slightly at the nickname. How long had it been since she’d last heard it? “I’ll text you the details tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay,” Catra answers. Their talk is over, but she keeps listening to Adora mess around and muttering to herself on the other side of the line, until the other girl seems to realize that she’s still there, and whispers a hurried “bye” before hanging up.

***

Though the alternative would’ve been going into the lion’s den all on her own, Catra is seriously regretting bringing Scorpia along. The drive up to Adora’s foster parents’ house takes maybe half an hour, but Scorpia’s never ending questions make every second seem to drag on _forever_.

“For the last time,” Catra sighs, her warm breath fogging up the window, “I don’t know anything about Bright Moon. I’ve never been there, never even read anything about the place and I don’t know anyone who goes there apart from Adora. And she doesn’t tell me much, either.”

“So... You really only know that it’s a private school?” Scorpia asks curiously. She’s a remarkably cautious driver for someone with such boundless energy, but can’t refrain herself from looking away from the road in favor of sneaking glances at Catra.

“Yeah, the whole lot of them are a bunch of pretentious rich pricks,” Catra adds. “Presumably, of course.” Scorpia nods sympathetically and Catra jumps when a strong hand suddenly comes up and clasps her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, kitty-cat,” Scorpia says as she shoots Catra a wide grin, pressing into her shoulder with strong fingers. “We’ll show them they can’t mess with the Horde! Fright Zone forever, yeah!” Catra can only groan at the outrageous nickname and stupid school loyalty, and lets her head fall back against the passenger seat window.

They arrive at the house just as Catra has reached her daily limit of time spent sitting trapped in a car, listening to Scorpia’s endless stories. She quickly grabs her bag from the backseat and jumps out of Scorpia’s car, not bothering to wait for her friend as she walks up to the door. If there is a doorbell there she doesn’t see it, or maybe she just chooses to ignore it in favor of banging her fist on the door. Something electric is thrumming through her veins and Catra is feeling a little jumpy. She shifts her weight from her heels to her toes and back again in anticipation, already debating another assault on the door when it’s suddenly opened.

It turns out that Catra is completely unprepared to see Adora again. The door glides open and Catra’s eyes find Adora’s in a way that feels so familiar, and she can’t stop herself from taking a moment to just stare into those grey-blue irises. Adora hasn’t changed one bit. Her sandy blonde hair is swept up in a messy ponytail, just the way she used to wear it when it was just the two of them, sharing a room at the group home. Her sense of style hasn’t changed one bit, either; Catra snorts when she spots the plain white t-shirt and jeans, and the mismatched socks poking out from underneath frayed pant legs.

“Hey there, loser,” Catra purrs with a grin. Adora doesn’t miss a beat and grins back, already stepping forward and opening her arms.

“Hey yourself, asshole,” she says as Catra steps into the embrace. Her arms are around Catra’s shoulders, pulling her in, and Catra rests her hands on Adora’s lower back.

“Are the other losers here yet?” Catra asks, keeping her voice light and casual as she speaks into Adora’s shoulder. The other girl chuckles and pulls back a little, so they’re face to face again. The tiny smile that’s dancing around her lips works infectiously, making it so Catra can’t even manage a scowl when Adora nods.

“Don’t worry, Cat,” she says, rubbing down Catra’s upper arms. “I’m positive you’ll like at least some of them.” Catra smirks.

“I’m holding you to that, princess.” Adora rolls her eyes at the nickname but grins nonetheless. Then all of a sudden a strong hand is pulling Catra backwards, breaking their embrace. Catra is still stumbling, catching her balance, when Scorpia throws her arms around Adora in a bear hug and lifts her into the air.

“Girl, it’s been too long!” she exclaims. Adora’s just laughing into the hug and patting Scorpia’s back with a face that’s quickly turning red. Catra grins and leans against the banister of the porch as she watches her two best friends reunite.

“Hey Adora, who was— oh.” The voice comes from inside the house. Catra has to strain to look around Scorpia’s hulking figure to see who it belongs to; a small girl with pink and purple hair, which seems to be covered in glitter as well. Yikes. The girl steps around where Adora is finally being let down from Scorpia’s crushing hug and walks up to Catra. “Hi,” she says, extending her hand towards Catra airily, but with a smile, “I’m Glimmer, Adora’s sister! It’s nice to meet you, uh…” Catra frowns and doesn’t accept the hand.

“Catra. It’s a pleasure.” Even the most socially reclusive person could have heard the sarcasm dripping from that sentence, and Glimmer scowls. Apparently she’s part of Adora’s new foster family. Big fucking deal. Catra decides she doesn’t particularly care about this glittery girl or whether she’s a friend or—and it hurts a little to think this— _family_ to Adora, so she pushes herself up from the banister and walks towards where Adora is standing in the doorway. “Come on, let’s go.” She sees Adora shooting Glimmer a look from the corner of her eye, before Adora’s hand grabs her wrist just as she starts to move inside the house.

“Catra,” Adora says, warning and slowly, like she’s scolding a child, “what did we say about playing nice?” Catra scoffs and turns backward, shooting Glimmer a bored glare.

“Yeah, yeah. I guess I’ll try.” She shifts the strap of her bag a little where it is sitting on her shoulder. “Nice to meet you too, Glitter,” Catra finally says with a small grimace, before turning around and marching inside, pulling Adora along with her and ignoring Glimmer’s indignant huff behind them.

Judging from the bags, pillows, blankets and air mattresses covering the living room floor, this is where they are going to sleep tonight. Catra looks over the colorful array of people here; _literally_ colorful—at first glance Catra can only see one kid who doesn’t seem to have his hair dyed in some crazy color. The boy doesn’t even notice her, too caught up in what looks like Mario Kart, alongside a girl with long, purple hair that reaches her lower back, despite being done up in pigtails. Catra glances at the others—a girl with dark green hair, who is watching the first two uninterestedly, and a blonde girl wearing a flowery tunic, only glancing up from her phone when Catra lets her bag fall down with a thump. One of the two couches is still free, so that’s where Catra sits down.

“Hey!” the boy exclaims suddenly, turning away from the tv and towards Catra. “New people!” He scrambles up from where he had been sitting cross-legged on the floor, and bounces over to Catra, sitting down next to her. Catra has to refrain from physically shoving him back to the floor, instead giving him an uneasy smile.

“Uh, yeah, hi,” she starts, “I’m Catra, Adora’s—”

“Adora’s _best friend_ , yes, yes, we’ve heard _all_ about you,” the boy says enthusiastically. Catra raises a curious eyebrow at Adora, who is just then entering the living room with Scorpia and Glimmer in tow. She shoots back a grin and shrugs.

“What? It’s true.” That makes Catra feel a little more comfortable here, in what she still sees as enemy territory. The boy, who she learns is called Bow, launches into an interrogation that is almost on par with Scorpia’s on their way here, but Catra simply lets herself sink backwards in the comfortable couch and bears with it. Only because Adora asked her. And only because she is and always will be Adora’s _best_ friend, no matter how many lesser friends she picks up along the way. And also only because Adora keeps shooting her happy smiles throughout the evening, like Catra is moving heaven and earth instead of just putting up with her new friends.

***

Catra learns all of Adora’s new friends’ names, despite how ridiculous they are (seriously, who calls their kid _Entrapta_ or _Perfuma_? Not that Catra’s dead parents get much credit in that department). She makes sure to correctly remember and pronounce all of them, if only to bug Glimmer that much more when she continues to call her Glitter, Glisten, Shiny, Shimmer, and any and all other variations on that silly name.

Entrapta and Bow are finally finished with their insane Mario Kart tournament. Entrapta beats Bow by only twelve points, which Catra thinks is kind of impressive considering they were doing all courses at 200cc, randomly chosen, with the computer set to hard and the items set to frantic. With the game shut off and one of Perfuma’s indie spotify playlists turned on, the mood in the living room starts getting more relaxed. Catra is pressed up in between Scorpia and Mermista on the couch; with Entrapta and Perfuma laying on the floor, looking at and anxiously whispering about something on Perfuma’s phone; and Bow, Glimmer and Adora sitting together on the other couch.

Catra can’t help the small scowl that takes residence on her face whenever she looks their way—the way they interact, it looks too comfortable, too familiar. Too much like the way she and Adora probably used to look. It’s silly and childish, Catra knows that, but she can’t help the restlessness that starts crawling under her skin. She looks over at Mermista, who has been looking bored all night, and asks: “Do you smoke?” Mermista gives her a strange look and Catra feels a sudden dread that she’s somehow insulted one of Adora’s new friends. But then Mermista just shrugs.

“Sure,” she says. Catra grins and jumps off the couch, digging through the pockets of her jacket and finding her pack and lighter.

“Great. Let’s go.”

It’s a cold and clear night, but Catra isn’t bothered by it. Mermista doesn’t seem to be, either, from where she’s leaning against the banister, facing the house. Catra is perched on the banister railing, faced the other way, and it’s comfortable. Catra has nothing to say and neither has Mermista, and there is a confidential sort of quiet between the two of them. A quiet which they both know does not have to be filled up with words, but just the thin smoke from their lungs.

Mermista goes inside after she finishes, not saying anything, and Catra keeps looking forward as she lights another. There is no reason to, but she wants to stay out here a bit longer. After having been submerged in the clinging warmth of the living room, being out here in the cold feels weirdly freeing. Catra hears the door open and close again behind her, and grins.

“You know you only have to ask for seconds, right?” she says, fully expecting it to be Mermista with the addition of a warmer coat, but when she turns around there is Adora.

“And you know I don’t smoke, silly,” she says as she climbs up on the banister, sitting so close to Catra that their shoulders brush. Catra huffs.

“Bow and Sparkle finally let you go?” she mutters, before taking a drag. The moon is a bright, white crescent, and Catra kind of wishes there was a boy with a fishing rod up there.

“Yeah, they can get a little intense,” Adora starts. “Sorry if you feel like I’ve been ignoring you tonight.” Catra looks over to her friend and bumps their shoulders together.

“Why is it that it’s always you, apologizing to me?” Catra wonders as she flicks the ash off her cigarette, into the grass. “It’s not like I got my lazy ass off that couch either, you know.” She smiles at Adora. “Besides, Mermista and I got along really well.” Adora snorts.

“Yeah, I saw. Glimmer doesn’t seem to like you much, though.” That makes Catra’s grin widen.

“Please. I’ve been the pinnacle of graciousness tonight,” she says. “Though I just _can’t_ seem to get her name right.” Adora laughs again, leaning into Catra as she does.

“You should give her a shot,” Adora murmurs, her hand finding the cigarette between Catra’s fingers and pulling it from her grasp. “She takes some time to warm up to people, but she’s the nicest girl ever.” Catra feels a pang of something in her chest at that and she stays silent as Adora puts the cigarette out against the bottom of the banister railing.

“I wasn’t done with that, you know,” she says. Adora just grins at her and jumps off the banister, pulling Catra along with her.

“I know,” she answers, “but I _really_ want to show you my new room.”

Catra can’t do anything but follow as Adora throws away the cigarette filter and pulls her up the stairs. She gets the whole tour: Glimmer’s room, Angella’s room, the study, the bathroom. Adora’s room is last, and as they make their way there, they pass a tall woman.

“Oh, hey!” Adora says with a smile. “This is my foster mom, Angella. Angella, this is my best friend, Catra.” Catra freezes, suddenly hyperaware of herself, her scruffy outfit, and the fact she probably still smells like smoke. But Angella only has kind eyes and a kind smile for Catra as she grasps her hand and shakes it firmly.

“Uh, hey, Angella,” Catra says awkwardly. “So, uh, I’m glad that—that Adora has finally, uh, you know… Even though everyone at the group home really misses her, this is—this is better, uh…” Angella’s smile widens, and the hand that was in hers moves to Catra’s shoulder.

“Yes. I’m very happy too, to be able to provide Adora with a home, here,” she says with a warm voice, saving Catra from her disjointed sentence. “I’m also very happy that you were there to do so, all the years prior.” A flood of warmth rushes through Catra at those words, and there is definitely a blush on her face. In an unconscious movement, she grabs Adora’s hand in her own, like they had done countless of times growing up.

“Yeah,” Catra says, voice slightly scratchy. “Me too.”

The encounter leaves the both of them a little emotionally drained, and they end up sitting side by side against the headboard of Adora’s new bed.

“This bed is super nice,” Catra says, after they’ve been silent for a while. “Your foster mom is, too.” Adora smiles.

“Yeah, she is. I feel like I’ve won the jackpot, or something,” she says, sounding so happy and content that Catra can’t help but fiercely hate herself for the disappointment that settles in her stomach.

“Yeah,” Catra answers, suddenly exhausted. She slides down the bed so that her head is on Adora’s pillow, and closes her eyes. She can feel angry tears welling up in the corners of her eyes and takes a couple of deep breaths, fighting to get rid of them. She’s happy for Adora. It doesn’t matter that she’s also sad for herself.

“Are you okay?” Adora’s voice sounds from her right. Catra has a sudden déjà vu to how she felt when Adora had called to invite her: laying on the bed, wanting for nothing more than Adora to be there next to her. And now— Soft fingers brush at the skin beneath her eyes. “Catra, you’re crying.” With a shiver, Catra turns to her side, her back to Adora.

“Shut up, no I’m not,” she says, but her quivering voice betrays her. Adora’s hand moves to her back, stroking long strokes down the length of her spine, pressing down firmly. She doesn’t say anything more, which Catra is glad for. After months apart, she’s glad that Adora still knows how much she can’t _stand_ crying in front of other people, even it’s only her best friend.

They stay that way, silent, until the tears abate, and for a long moment afterwards, as well. Finally, when Catra feels more like herself, she sits up and turns back to Adora.

“How do I look?” she asks, scowling. Adora brushes away a few tear tracks at the corners of her eyes and smiles.

“Like your delightfully angry self,” she says. That brings a small grin to Catra’s face.

“Good.”

They rejoin the others and Catra realizes that from the start of her smoke break until now, she’s only been gone for half an hour, despite it feeling like an eternity. She wants to go back to her seat between Mermista and Scorpia, but Entrapta has made herself quite comfortable in between the two, talking animatedly about something with Scorpia, who seems to revel in the fact that she has found a conversation partner that’s as intense as she is.

So, as much as she dislikes the thought, Catra moves to drag Adora over to sit next to Glimmer and Bow. Before she can take a step, though, Adora is whispering something in her ear.

“Hey, you go on ahead. I think Perfuma wants to talk to me,” she says. Catra follows her gaze to the girl on the floor, who keeps glancing back and forth between her phone and the two of them, in the doorway to the living room. Then she looks up to where are Bow and Glimmer are sitting, and groans softly. Adora chuckles and gives her a soft shove forwards. “Come on, they’re not so bad. Give them a chance?” Catra looks at Adora over her shoulders and, honestly, she’s never been a match for that puppy eyed look her best friend has perfected.

“Ugh, okay,” she groans, pinching Adora’s wrist before letting it fall down, and stalking over to the couch. Glimmer is eyeing her distrustfully as she approaches; Bow just looks thrilled that she’s choosing to sit with them. “Uh. Hey Bow, Glimmer,” Catra says, keeping her voice monotone to show how disinterested she is in them. Bow gasps loudly.

“Holy shit!” he exclaims, causing the entire room to turn their attention to them. “She actually said your name!” Catra rolls her eyes and lets herself fall down on the couch, in between the two. Her eyes fall on Adora, who is looking at her with a satisfied grin.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get used to it, Twinkle,” she says. “That goes for you too, uh, Bend Over.” It takes a moment for the joke to sink in, but when it does Bow starts cackling with laughter, falling all over Catra and off the couch in the process. With a smug grin, Catra watches Adora falling down laughing next to Bow. Surprisingly, even Glimmer is chuckling from her other side.

***

Of course, when they decide it’s time to go to sleep, none of them actually do. It’s around midnight, and whispered conversations travel through the dark living room. Catra, after having already shared a companionable silence with Mermista earlier that night, finds herself forming an unexpected bond with Glimmer over their shared hatred of math. As it turns out, Bright Moon uses the same books at generally the same pace as Horde High, and there is nothing Catra hates more than angles and geometrical shapes and probability and the normal distribution. Catra is hanging off the couch, angrily whispering about all of this over Adora’s head, who is laying with the couch on her one side, and Glimmer on her other.

“It’s so _stupid_ ,” Catra seethes, trying to keep as quiet as she can. “God, I can’t believe some people actually _like_ calculating the probability of throwing dice.”

“Ugh, I know right?” Glimmer agrees, exasperatedly. “Like, just throw the dice! Isn’t that what they were made for? You throw them and get a number. Why would you waste your time calculate a _theoretical number_?” Adora snorts in between them.

“Now I feel bad for liking math,” she says with a soft grin. Catra can’t help but return it as she answers.

“Sad to see you’re still a nerd.”

“Wait, you like math?” Glimmer asks, pushing herself up on one arm, looking down at her indignantly. Adora just keeps grinning and shrugs underneath her blanket. Catra fakes a cough.

“Nerd.” Adora fakes a cough, too.

“Asshole.” Catra’s grin widens. With a swift movement, she swipes Adora’s pillow from under her head and throws it down in her face. Adora sits up instantly, immediately snagging the pillow from Catra’s grasp and retaliating. Catra gets hit in the face, then on the stomach, then two more times in the face before Adora decides to take pity on her.

Everyone quiets after a while and Catra is almost asleep when she feels something pressing down on her leg. The pressure continues to move on to her stomach, before moving to her chest. With a groan, Catra raises an arm to push away whoever is bothering her now.

“Adora, I swear—” she starts, but then her hand meets soft fur and she opens her eyes in surprise. On her chest, looking like it owns the place, is a grey cat. “Uh, okay,” Catra whispers to herself. She glances around to the other faces in the room, for as far as she can see with the cat on her chest. Everyone seems to be asleep.

“Oh, hey Grayskull,” Adora whispers sleepily from the floor. Catra can’t see her face pinned down like this, but a pale arm does come up to pet the cat that’s currently about to take a nap on her torso.

“Wait, you have a cat?” Catra asks, keeping her voice down to a whisper so soft it might as well be a sigh.

“Yeah,” Adora answers, her hand stroking the cat from its ears all the way down to its tail. “I adopted it with Glimmer and Angella when I came to live here.” The pressure on her chest doesn’t distract Catra from the disappointment and jealousy that starts swirling in the pit of her stomach again.

“Oh,” she says, wanting nothing more than for Adora to fall asleep so she can wallow in her misery in peace. “That’s great.”

“Yeah,” Adora says again. She pets Grayskull a couple more times before retracting her hand and doesn’t say anything else. Catra doesn’t know what to say either, so she just gives up and stares at the ceiling, trying to ignore the feelings and thoughts swirling around in her body.

Catra figures she must have fallen asleep at some point, because she wakes up off the couch and pressed into Adora’s back. Grayskull’s gone, too. The space between Adora and the couch is so small it probably shouldn’t be as comfortable as it is, but then again sleeping with Adora will always be the most comfortable thing Catra has ever done.

They sometimes used to, before: because who in their right mind would not crawl into their roommate and best friend’s bed in the dead of night, in the middle of winter? Adora was always warm, even when Catra felt like she was freezing to the bed permanently.

It isn’t cold in the living room, but Catra can’t help herself. She pushes her forehead against Adora’s neck, face pressed to the space between Adora’s shoulder blades and, against her better judgement, folds her arm around Adora’s waist, pulling her close.

However she managed it before, she doesn’t know; Catra can’t fall back to sleep for the life of her. She’s hyperconscious of Adora, of being pressed up against Adora, of being able to hold her like this. Catra sighs and groans.

“I miss you,” she whispers into Adora’s back. If she can’t go to sleep, she might as well clear her conscience a little, right? The fact that Adora can’t hear her do it is just an additional benefit. “I hate that you left. I hate myself for hating that you left.” Another sigh leaves her lungs. “You’re so happy here. I hate that I can’t just accept that.” Catra stops, letting the silence envelop them once more. Then, suddenly, Adora is moving beneath her arm. Catra freezes for a moment before pulling away as if burned by fire. Adora turns around slowly, her hand grabbing the hand that had been on her stomach just a second ago, and holding it in the space between their chests. “Uh, hey, Adora,” Catra says, unsure of how to proceed now. Her body is jumpy like she’d just stuck her finger down an electrical socket. There’s no way she’s going to be able to go back to sleep now. Adora just smiles a small smile, in the darkness.

“Hey,” she whispers back. Then, even softer: “Did you mean what you said?” Catra feels all the blood rush to her cheeks and she wants nothing more than to return to the couch and pretend that all of this hadn’t happened. But Adora is still holding her hand, leaving her no choice. She looks down, and nods.

“I’m sorry,” she says. Adora rubs at her knuckles with her thumb.

“Look at that,” she answers, smile apparent in her voice, “you, apologizing to me, for a change.” Catra can’t help herself and chuckles. Why is it that even the hard conversations become easy when they’re with Adora?

“Yeah,” she answers. “I mean it, though. You’ve got everything you’ve always deserved here. A good school, your own room, a family that loves you, a ton of friends, a cat…” Catra trails off. Adora squeezes her hand.

“Not you, though,” Adora says. Catra chances a look at her face. Even in the colorless darkness Adora’s eyes seem to shine, and she’s looking at Catra with a trembling smile. Catra pauses for a second, then does the only thing she can think to do. She throws herself onto Adora and hugs her, as tightly as she’s able to with one hand still in Adora’s and the other digging through piles of blankets in find her back. When she’s found proper purchase in the soft fabric of Adora’s pajama’s, she lifts herself up and looks around. Glimmer, Bow, Mermista, Scorpia, Entrapta and Perfuma are all fast asleep. Catra turns her gaze back to Adora.

“So…” She wants to say more, but when she looks at the girl pinned beneath her, Catra’s throat dries up. Adora is looking at her reverently, lovingly, even. Catra is convinced she must be wearing the same look on her face. She untangles her fingers from Adora’s and brings it up to hold Adora’s cheek. “Just—” Catra whispers, heart racing in her chest, “stop me if I go too far.” Then, before she can lose her edge, Catra leans down and presses her lips to Adora’s.

It’s something she had never realized she wanted to do; maybe it’s Adora’s absence from her life, then seeing her again for the first time in months today, what really drives the point home. They stay like that, lips locked, for what feels like forever. Then Adora begins to squirm beneath her and the blood in Catra’s veins turns to ice. As if burned by the touch, Catra climbs off of Adora and moves to lay back on the couch. Before she can move away too far, though, a warm hand grabs the one Catra had just used to cup Adora’s cheek.

“Don’t go, silly,” Adora whispers. “You can’t just kiss a girl and expect her to never come up for air.”

Catra can’t help herself. It’s the lack of sleep, probably, in addition to all the blood rushing away from her head and her heart almost beating out of her chest with relief: she bursts out laughing. With a grin of her own, Adora pulls her back down, until they’re both cuddled up together, with Adora’s blanket covering them both.

This time around, it doesn’t take Catra long at all to fall back asleep.


End file.
